For You
by The Raider
Summary: "It's been three years since she left. And three years since she told me I had to stay here." Atton/Exile. One-Shot


**Well, here's a short one that came to me in the dead of night while i was up past 1 AM listening to Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen. The lyrics in the song, which are from the song "For You", are the property of Bruce Springsteen, i've only borrowed them because they connected perfectly with the story, at least in my eyes. Well, enjoy!**

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><p><strong>For You<strong>**  
><strong>**(Meetra Surik (The Jedi Exile)/ Atton Rand**)

_Princess cards she sends me, with her regards__  
><em>_Her barroom eyes shine vacancy, to see her you have to look hard_

As he sat at the bar, the bottle of Juma sitting in front of him, he could almost hear the bottle mocking his present state, Atton felt his head slip down onto the cool surface of the counter. The drinking helped, but it never truly washed away the pain that was inside him.  
><em>How could she do it?<em> He asked himself, the same question that always rang through his mind. With every step, he wondered where she was, if she was even _alive_. _No, she has to be alive_ He always told himself, almost always before he passed out from the level of alcohol in his system.  
>"Atton!" He looked up at his name being called, the voice ringing so clear in his mind. It <em>had<em> to be Meetra. Turning around, his head erupting into pain as he did so, he scanned the crowd, looking for the face that connected with the voice. And yet, she didn't appear. She wasn't here. It was the same as every other night.  
>"Xia, put it on my tab, I'm done for the night." He said to the bartender, turning and walking to the door in process. He had to get some fresh air, anything to clear his mind. To try and clear his mind of <em>her.<em>

_I was wounded deep in battle, but I stood stuffed like a soldier undaunted__  
><em>_To her Cheshire smile I'd stand on file, she was all I ever wanted_

The streets of Nar Shaddaa were almost empty, which wasn't strange for the time of night. Most people feared going out into the streets at night, with all the criminals and lowlifes hanging around. Atton had learned long ago that there really wasn't anything to fear. Not _anymore_. He passed the apartment block, the same one that he had followed Mira into after he had been sure that Meetra had died. The bounty hunter had changed his mind, telling him and the rest of the crew where to find their leader. He remember the desperation that had flown through his mind at that moment, how he felt, thinking that he had lost her forever.  
><em>Arrogant youth.<em> He thought to himself, berating his younger self. It had been close to three years since he had last seen her, and even now he felt like an old man. Those three years seemed like a millennia ago, and he couldn't help but long for a chance to relive those days over again. There were so many things he would do differently, so many things that would have changed. He would have told her sooner, almost the very minute that she had started talking to him, treating him like a friend.  
>"So many things."<p>

_And you were not quite half so proud when I found you broken on the beach__  
><em>_Remember how I poured salt on your tongue and hung just out of reach_

He still remembered how she had found him on Malachor, broken and defeated by Kreia's lapdog, so close to death that he could feel it coursing through his body. He had heard her voice as she saw him, and he remembered how she had rushed to his side, pouring ever single inch of her healing power into him. Tears had stained her eyes, and she had completely forgotten where they were. He had seen the Sith Lord standing in the corner, his remaining eye staring at the scene, and remaining utterly silent.  
>Finally the Sith Lord had spoken up, and Meetra had turned to him, the tears still running down her face, even when her saber ignited and the side of her that only came when a battle was upon them appeared. She had fought, determined to kill whoever had tortured him. And in the end, she had killed the Sith Lord, watched him die upon the floor of the Academy. And yet, she still <em>turned<em> him back. When sleeps-with-vibroblades had died, it had been with the aura of the Light Side surrounding him. Meetra had then turned back to him, silently whispering his name as she continued to try and heal him.  
>"Atton! Atton! Come on, damn you, don't die on me! Not here!"<p>

_I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency__  
><em>_For you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency_

"Meetra, why the hell did you do it?" He asked himself silently, pausing and looking down into the crowded star lines below the railing. She had been here too, has passed this very spot on her way to see Vogga. The whole planet reminded him of her, reminded him of her touch, of the way that she had talked to him, before she had left. He felt the tears coming before they appeared in the cracks of his eyes. He told himself to stop, and yet, they just came harder. His hair was hanging in his face, hiding his identity from the world. Here, he was just another nobody. When he had been with her, he had been _something._ She had made him into something, someone that she saw needed saving. Someone that was _worth_ saving.  
>"Meetra, why did you need to go?"<p> 


End file.
